DCC Bob Skinner has witnessed the aftermath of murder countless times. Yet nothing could have prepared him for identifying the strangled bodies of his wife's beloved parents, killed at their lakeside cabin in New York State. Driven by cold rage, Skinner quickly muscles in on the investigation, and soon he's found links with three other cases where the killing is too professional to be the result of a burglary gone wrong. But can he penetrate the multiple layers of intrigue to unearth the killer?
As Bob Skinner takes an evening stroll with a gorgeous filmstar on his arm, surely the worst of his worries is that back at Headquarters, an ambitious new colleague is scheming to enlarge his territory at Skinner's expense. But when a frightening shot-gun attack sends Skinner and his old flame Louise Banks diving for cover, it seems danger has zeroed in on him once again...
Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner believes the past is behind him when he solves the riddle of his wife's death. Investigating another murder should be easy. However, when the victim is the widow of a government minister and her son has been kidnapped, he knows he will get personally involved.
When an Edinburgh car showroom is torched, leaving a fortune in luxury sports cars destroyed and one badly charred body, Skinner finds himself on the same side as a man he's been trying to nail while they both search for the man's wife's killer.
A mid-air explosion kills both the British and American Defence Secretaries and Bob Skinner finds himself leading the biggest investigation of his career. The investigation quickly becomes puzzling and then sudden violence puts Skinner out of the picture and on the brink of death.
